Marketing Resources

Wrapping Paper Promises

By Christine Dubyts, Dubyts Communications

Marketing is part art, part science. The science part is in the discovery of who your clients are and in choosing the best way to reach them. The art part is the creative used to communicate your message . . . the wrapping paper, as it were.

It's a wonderful thing when the art and the science of marketing are bang on and you are, all of a sudden, attracting people to your business. BUT, what happens if they walk in the door, visit your website or call for a meeting and for some reason they decide not to buy, or they buy once but never return again?

Something is not right. The marketing is working to get people in, but when it comes to fulfillment there is a disconnect. What could be wrong? It could be any number of things, the environment, the actual product or service, the value received, the people, or the failure to deliver on your promise.

Us marketing folk can wrap your business in beautiful paper and pretty bows, but once they're in the door it's all up to you. If you're slow to acknowledge, slow to deliver, provide subpar quality, bad service or have a poorly kept environment, the client may, or MAY NOT be back for more.

This is not to say every business should have glittery wrapping with shiny bows. If you sell high volume, low cost, glittery wrapping doesn't work. What it does mean is that what's on the outside needs to match what's on the inside. If you set high expectations with amazing wrapping paper and sky high promises and then fail to deliver on those expectations the customer will not be back.